LaHood to leave Obama's cabinet

Wednesday

Jan 30, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 30, 2013 at 11:43 AM

Ray LaHood, the former Republican congressman from Illinois who has run the nation's Transportation Department under President Barack Obama, will not serve a second term, he told department employees in a letter yesterday.

Ray LaHood, the former Republican congressman from Illinois who has run the nation’s Transportation Department under President Barack Obama, will not serve a second term, he told department employees in a letter yesterday.

“I’ve told President Obama, and I’ve told many of you, that this is the best job I’ve ever had. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to work with all of you,” LaHood wrote.

He cited the department’s efforts to curb distracted driving and to increase the efficiency of autos by raising emissions standards.

As transportation secretary, LaHood was at the center of efforts to reduce fatigue among pilots and called for greater investment in high-speed rail. He also pushed for large fines against Toyota for safety problems and for a new transportation bill in Congress.

“We have made great progress in improving the safety of our transit systems, pipelines, and highways, and in reducing roadway fatalities to historic lows,” he said.

LaHood’s decision makes him the latest member of the president’s original cabinet to announce a departure in the past several weeks.

Obama praised LaHood, the last remaining Republican from the president’s first-term cabinet, as a public servant who has been more interested in practical solutions than in partisan politics.

“Years ago, we were drawn together by a shared belief that those of us in public service owe an allegiance not to party or faction, but to the people we were elected to represent,” the president wrote. “And Ray has never wavered in that belief.”

Several people have been mentioned as replacements for LaHood. Among them: Antonio Villaraigosa, the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles; Ed Rendell, the former governor of Pennsylvania; Debbie Hersman, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board; and Jennifer Granholm, the former Democratic governor of Michigan.